B.Eat Street - Friday Food Fight

B.Eat Street's Friday Food Fight started out, as you can probably guess, as a Friday evening event featuring a large selection of Manchester street food traders and unique restaurants serving up sample menus. They also offer up a big selection of cocktails and drinks on their bar.

The event has moved through 3 locations over the past year but is now currently residing within an unused space of the Great Northern Warehouse just off Manchester's Deansgate. It became so popular in its original location just over the road that they've started opening on both Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. This helps spread the number of visitor out as when it was just held on the Friday evening it was almost impossible to find a seat to sit down and eat. The queues for the food stalls could also be like queuing for a ride at Alton Towers during the school holidays! It also seemed that a lot of people would be there for the drinking more than the food too which never helped in getting a table. Because of this, I was little apprehensive about returning to the Friday Food Fight.

But with the promise of some old favourites, and some new names on the line up I figured it was about time B.Eat Street featured in the memoirs. 

Tonight's line up was due to feature the following names, not only from Manchester but from the length of the UK, with a special guest travelling up from Brighton. The line up included:
Piggie Smalls (@PIGGIESMALLSYO)
Viet Shack (@vietshack)
Coq o' The North (@CoqOtheNorth)
Dim Sum Su (@DimSumSU)
Lucha Libre (@LuchaManchester)
Diamond Dogs (@Diamondd0gs)
Dirty Food Revolution (@dirty_food)
Mei Mei's Street Cart (@mmStreetCart)
And Special Guest from Brighton - Fries Guys (@friesguysuk)

We arrived around 7pm which I expected to be the busiest time but entered via the manned door to the side of the Great Northern (next to the cinema entrance). You walk past the plywood tables and into a red tinted warehouse type space with a live DJ playing from a raised area. To one side of the hall is the bar, while opposite is a wall of food stalls from the various vendors. Between, the room is full of tables and benches with the odd oil drum dotted around forming a table or bin. It was good to see spaces at the tables and room to sit down and eat this time!

Seating Area

Drink & Cocktail Menu

B.eat street have improved the payment system opening a separate desk where you exchange money or pay on card to the value you wish to spend on food in exchange for poker chips. This seems to work well and it allows for card payment which wasn't possible at previous venues when you would pay the stalls individually. 

I was excited to see some new stalls to try and to revisit some past favourites. I'll admit I was very keen to try Fries Guys what with them having travelled all the way from Brighton, but it looked as though terrible traffic both around London and on the M6 had prevented them from arriving. 

Dirty Food Revolution

First stop was to a vendor we recently tried for the first time at another food event (See Previous Memoir Here), Dirty Food Revolution. I try not to visit the same places so soon after each visit but after winning a competition online for a free meal from Dirty Food Revolution I didn't need any more of an excuse to sample their burgers again. 

Dirty Food Revolution

Their menu was basically the same as at their last event, but at least it would give me the chance to test their consistency. There was a slight tweak to the fries being offered, still sweet potato fries but listed as having Dirty Seasoning and Vanilla Dusting on top. 

The burgers were the same mixes of sweet and savoury delights that I couldn't wait to sample again. 

Dirty Food Revolution Menu 1

Dirty Food Revolution Menu 2

As the fries were the only thing I didn't have last time I had to order them this time. 
I was a little apprehensive about fries with vanilla dusting, and I'd have to order to discover the surprise of the dirty seasoning. 

Dirty Fries - £3.00

The sweet potato fries were well cooked, crispy without being over done. They'd have been just like any other fries were it not for the dirty seasoning, icing sugar! Now I admitted at the time, if someone suggested putting icing sugar on my fries I'd tell them to get lost, but having tried these sweetened sweet potatoes I wouldn't need convincing again. Now, just to convince others that this is a suitable topping for fries. The vanilla topping I didn't notice though. 

As I engulfed the fries, I waited for the burgers to be cooked. In the background the thick patties on the grill looked delicious. I soon remembered the last time I tried these. 

Patties on the grill

For the burgers I opted for the Dirty Elvis burger, a chuck steak patty, american cheese, smoked streaky bacon, pork rind crumbs, maple syrup, sweet potato fries, all between a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Dirty Elvis Burger - £7.00

My girlfriend ordered the Dirty Swine burger, a chuck steak patty, mature cheese, smoked streaky bacon, frazzles, pork rind crumbs, dirty mayo, dirty BBQ sauce all between a brioche bun. 

Dirty Swine Burger - £7.00

The Dirty Elvis was another mix of sweet and savoury, as well as a mix of soft and crunchy. The beef patty was about as thick as the doughnut and in the centre oozed out a huge dose of maple syrup. The iced Krispy Kreme added a huge sugary boost, while the prok cumbs add a crispy bite. This is still one of the messiest burgers I think I've eaten to date. The sticky icing on the doughnut, the thick american cheese and the way the sweet potato fries fall out of the burger means there's no dignified way to eat this. 

Dirty Elvis - £7.00

Those with a sweet tooth might prefer the Dirty Elvis over the Dirty Swine. The fans of a more traditional burger wouldn't be left disappointed by the Dirty Swine. The thick juicy steak patty, crispy bacon & frazzles still makes this one of my favourite burgers. The Dirty mayo and dirty BBQ sauce do get a little lost in all these flavours. 
It's also a little less messy to eat than the Dirty Elvis. 

Dirty Food Revolution are obviously a fan of both sweet and savoury and aren't scared to mix the two. I'm glad they're brave enough to offer this menu and run the risk of people turning their noses up at it, because those that don't obviously love it (they sold out by the end of the night). They're also putting together some of the best patties I've found in Manchester. Hugely thick and really well cooked! 

Money for Meat: Competition win

Meat Rating: 10/10

Mei Mei's Street Cart

This was one of the vendors I hadn't come across yet so was keen to try it. Their menu board gave a brief description and diagram of the Jian Bing's (or Chinese style crepes) they were serving. Not something I'd come across before. 

Mei Mei's Menu

Mei Mei's had 3 different filling options, fried chicken, shiitake mushrooms, or a Beijing veggie option.  

We opted for the fried chicken option. These large folded crepes were freshly prepared in front of us, sprinkled with spring onions, covered in a hoisin & chilli sauce, before being filled with the selected filling and folded into an easy to hold package. 

Jian Bing

Both my girlfriend and I agreed that these were very good. The mix of flavours from the egg crepe taste and the onions combined with the sliced chicken was fantastic. The hoisin sauce added a great little kick towards the end which the crepe helped cancel out preventing it from being too overpowering. 

Money For Meat: Paid in full

Meat Rating: 8/10


Coq o' the North

Coq o' the North have become a regular at the food fight recently. They offer up buttermilk fried chicken in fresh brioche buns. 

I used to say that no chicken burger could compete with a beef burger until I tried a certain Manchester street food vendor selling their take on a fried chicken burger, since then my mind has been opened to the fact that they can. So on this note Coq o' the North had to be tried. 

Coq o' the North Menu

I ordered their "lip tingler", a spicy buttermilk fried chicken breast on a toasted brioche and a bed of mayo, lettuce, onion & tomatoes. 

The price was one of the cheaper main dishes on the night. I waited for the chicken to be fried and saw the bed of large tomatoes and onion pieces being prepared. 

The Lip Tingler - £5.00

When the burger arrived it looked a bit salad heavy but I'd give it chance. Upon taking a bite my original theory was immediately restored. Although the salad and bun was fresh, the thin piece of fried chicken tasted a tad too salty. The batter was of a good breaded texture, and well cooked. The chicken breast was just too thin though, and after being fried was just too dry. The overall taste reminded me of a late night takeaway chicken burger. Too much salad, and an overwhelmingly spiced battered thin piece of chicken. 

Overall I was left disappointed in Coq o' the North. A real shame having had my mind opened previously to what a chicken burger can be.

Money for Meat: Paid in full

Meat Rating: 2/10

Dim Sum Su

The final choice of the evening was the other vendor I hadn't heard of before, Dim Sum Su. Dim Sum is a traditional Chinese style of food, and the menu seemed to offer some Chinese favourites. Sue and John run this little business and although Sue couldn't attend the Food Fight this weekend John offered us a warm welcome. 

Dim Sum Su menu

On the front of the desk they had a couple of sample dishes, one of their peking chicken wraps and a box of their wontons. 

Sample Dishes

We opted for a portion of the home made Wontons to share between us. John explained that they'd started to dish up some black bean chicken wontons as well as the pork, prawn & peking chicken wontons and offered us a mixed box which we happily accepted. 

Wontons - £6.00

These wontons were my partners favourite dish of the night and they were definitely up there for me. These crispy, fried little packages were packed full of great flavours. Having a little box like this with a mix of different flavours in added to the excitement as you never knew what flavour you were biting in to. 

Crispy fried wonton skins

The seasoned meats inside the peking wontons were delicious and the peking sauce added a fantastic hint of traditional Chinese flavour. The black bean chicken wontons were equally as great. A tingle of spice from the black bean sauce around the minced chicken was a perfect amount of spice. 

Meat packed wonton with sweet chilli dip

I'll be following Dim Sum Su on social media to keep up to date on the future events they're attending, as I can't wait to try more from their menu.

Money for Meat: Paid in full

Meat Rating: 10/10

Conclusion

B.eat Street's Friday Food Fight seems much improved, with its new location, the decision to split the event over 2 evenings and the ability to now take card really seems to have improved it. Oddly, it seems to have got quieter though. To me that's a bonus, as it just seemed too busy in the past. It's lively and atmospheric now, without having to spend half your evening queuing. 

There's a big list of food retailers attending each night, offering lots of different choice to customers. We were spoilt for choice. 

Overall, the Food Fight has become one of Manchester's biggest food events every week. It's easy to see why with their large bar menu, and even bigger selection of food on offer. I'll be back to the Food Fight before long no doubt, and we'll feature it in the Memoirs when we do. 

An apology to all those stalls we didn't get chance to sample on this visit. We just couldn't accommodate them all. There'll sure to be a memoir feature for you all in the future. 

Here are the menus from the other vendors from the night:

Diamond Dogs - Menu 1

Diamond Dogs - Menu 2

Lucha Libre Menu

Viet Shack

Piggie Smalls Menu

Piggie Smalls Signs

Manchester Picnic

Another weekend, another food festival in Manchester it seems. This time a one off weekend long festival, the Manchester Picnic.
A number of street food traders and restaurants were due to set up stalls on the Friday, Saturday & Sunday between noon and 7pm. As you basically walk past Piccadilly Gardens to get wherever you want to go in Manchester it was difficult to avoid stopping off to sample a few bites. So arriving around lunch time we made sure our plans took us through the gardens. 

There have been a number of food festivals over the past year or so in Manchester (and more are planned in the near future), yet they still seem to be very popular so can't have lost their appeal just yet. 
This one seems to appeal more to the passing public though and not rely as much on social media advertising etc. 

The food stalls at the Manchester Picnic seemed to have been selected from far and wide, with a number coming over the boarder from Leeds. 

Al's BBQ Shack

The list of stalls included:
Als' BBQ Shack - @AlsBBQShack
Cantina Latina
Chaat Cart - @ChaatCart
Chiquito
Choccy Churros - @ChoccyChurros
Cowboy Burgers - @CowBoysBurgers
Fire & Salt BBQ - @FireandSaltBBQ
Fire & Slice Pizza - @pizzafireslice
Fish& - @NoFishyBusiness
Ginger's Comfort Emporium
Lulabelles - @VWLulabelle
Martins Craft Bakery
Matildas
Papa G's
Piggie Smalls - @PIGGIESMALLSYO
Puddin5 Love
Tio's Barbecue - @tiobbq
Wasabi Sushi

There was a small tent for live music and DJs also, but as we know, this visit was for the food. 

The majority of these street food gatherings bring the usual BBQ, burger and pizza stalls. It's not often you find Fish and Chips at these events, but when there are they usually make a great change from the usual heavy, greasy battered fish you get at the local chippy. Fish& therefore seemed like the first choice to go to. Especially as they were located right at the entrance to the picnic area. 

Fish&

Calamari being a favorite was the initial choice but the tasting cone would offer the opportunity to compare Fish& with the usual grease, while hopefully allowing the stomach room for something else after.

Fish& Tasting Cone

The three portions of battered fish came in three different types of batter. A traditional batter, a lemon & chilli batter and sea salt & pepper. The flavoured batters were subtle yet noticeable. The pepper overpowering the salt in the salt & pepper batter a bit. The lemon and chilli batter had a slight kick to it, and the traditional batter was light. Real light in fact! In fact they were all very light! Not too greasy either! 
Biting into them you find a fish surprise inside. The fish was so juicy it was literally still dripping. Not like the dry, overcooked fish you often find in the middle of batter. 

The chips had a great crunch to the bite and inside the potato was fluffy and soft. 

Well that's those demolished. What's next?

Cakes and cookies from Lulabelles?
 

Lulabelles

Bread and pastries from Martins Craft Bakery?

Various Breads from Martins Craft Bakery

Brownies, cakes, buns, flapjacks

It was impossible to walk past this stall. There were bread samples to taste (you can't beat fresh bread) and a bag was filled with brownies, flapjack and this sexy looking pesto & cheese focaccia for later. These have now been sampled, the focaccia being a favourite in the house!   

Pesto & Cheese Focaccia (with dried tomatoes) 

Continue around the square....

Cantina Latina

Chaat Cart were serving up vegetarian delights. A special apology is needed here as I promised I'd go back to their stall for more photographs and I ran out of time. Next time they're in town though I'll be buying from them as an apology, and a full write up will of course follow.

Chaat Cart

Piggie Smalls hotdogs

Piggie Smalls Menu

The Piggie Smalls menu has some fairly extravagant (I think that's the best way to describe them) hot dog inventions. The "man vs food dog" being the choice which stands out most! (Smoked Dog, all the toppings then DEEP FRIED!)

Tio's barbecue was the next stop where I was able to sample a couple of menu items:

The wings (BBQ) and chicken sub were in order here. The BBQ chicken wings were basically just BBQ wings with some generic BBQ sauce poured too heavily over the top. Nothing to shout to the memoirs about:

Tio's BBQ wings

The chicken sub took chicken straight off the barbecue skewers onto the bread. This was more impressive, the chicken had a lot more natural flavour to it and wasn't doused in sauce:

Tio's BBQ chicken skewers

Tio's Chicken Sub

The last stop before we finished for lunch was to try Fire&Salt. Having seen their stall at numerous events before this was another meal I'd been keen for. 

Fire & Salt

Fire&Salt menu

A tough decision was made but the choice was the Beef Brisket BBQ sandwich. 

A lot of the stalls were cooking their meats there and then, unfortunately as brisket isn't really a cut for this the meat came off a hot plate. It was still hot though, and the beef was juicy and delicious. The cola BBQ sauce made the brisket though, the sugar from the cola really added a sweet taste to the beef as you took a mouth full. The serving of slaw was a little excessive though, it was almost more slaw than beef. 

Fire & Salt Beef BBQ Brisket sandwich

Fire & Salt Beef BBQ Brisket Sandwich (open)

Some of the other stalls included:

Al's BBQ Shack

Matildas

Matildas Menu

Matildas stuffed Loaf

Martins Craft Bakery

Fire & Slice Pizza

Fire & Slice in the making

Fire & Slice Margherita

Cowboys Burgers

Conclusion

Overall the Manchester Picnic seemed like a success, although for a Saturday lunch time it seemed a little quiet. Perhaps a little more advertisement or pushing on the social media could have brought a bigger audience. This is comparing it to other one day food festivals though so spread out over a weekend it probably attracted quite a large crowd. 

It was great to see some different food stalls featured here from outside of Manchester, and some different stalls from just the usual BBQ and burgers. 

Meat rating: 6/10

Money for meat: Paid in Full